While out twitching a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on June 28th 2016, I took the opportunity to look around one end of a lake on Cross Road, West Jeddore in the Halifax Metropolitan Region. Not a lot was in evidence despite good conditions, 24°C temps and plenty of cover. On rocks I found a couple of White Corporals. Below is a male followed a male Chalk-fronted Corporal (from Quebec) for comparison.

On the rough track to the water this Lancet Clubtail basked and occasionally chased one of the corporals around. Lancet is general the commonest of clubtails and pretty easy to ID.

In the grassy margins, sheltered from the stiff breeze, two damsels were on the wing. The ubiquitous Eastern Forktail was plentiful, here is a male.

Also flying was Marsh Bluet. This is one of several similar bluets and examination of the terminal appendages helps to come to an ID. The only other bluet I considered was Tule but, based on the more blue than black ration on the abdomen and the appendage shapes I’m happy with Marsh Bluet as the ID.

If you are new to odes you might want to check out the resources on the tabs at the top of the page. Clear reference is limited to a couple of publications at present, however, by owning a few of the guides you can generally reach a conclusion as to what you are seeing.

Below, not an ode, obviously, but this large spider would have been a match for any of the odes I saw.

Get Involved

Help me use this blog to promote the watching of dragonflies in Nova Scotia, send me your sighting and I'll put them up here. If you see something you can't identify, photograph it and I'll try to ID it for you. Contact me at therealmarkdennis@gmail.com

Past lives

This used to be my old Quebec ode blog - I am now using it for NS odes but the QC stuff remains for those interested.